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They’ve tackled the parallel slalom, the snow cross and the skeleton luge – now the celebrities on Channel 4’s The Jump are set to tackle a ski cross course.

Similar to snow cross, but using skis instead of skates, this Olympic event sees contestants racing against each other on a course filled with jumps, bumps and banked turns, with a little bit of jostling for position on the way down.

At the start of this series, ski coach Warren Smith shared his predictions on who had a good chance of winning, and who might struggle along the way.

He’s been putting the 11 remaining contestants through their paces on the ski cross course in Kühtai, Austria, practising the jumps one at a time before they go head to head (or elbow to elbow).

In this week’s training video, Louis Smith’s background in gymnastics gives him an advantage in the jumps, making him much more adaptable in the air. But how does Warren think the other contestants will fare in Sunday’s event?

Ski cross has been an Olympic sport since 2010Credit:
PCN Photography/Alamy

Rugby player Gareth Thomas and Made in Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews could be worth watching. “There’s a big battle between Gareth and Spencer, after Spencer got taken out in the snow cross,” Warren says. “No doubt there’ll be some rivalry between them. There was a fair amount of hustle and bustle in training.

“Jason Robinson put in an amazing performance,” Warren continues. The rugby player crashed while skiing in the parallel slalom, so he wanted to prove himself this time round. “After we talked about his technique, he made some incredible progress – though not without a couple of fails.”

Was there anyone who struggled with the course? “Jade Jones is a complete beginner when it comes to skiing,” Warren says of the Olympic taekwondo champion. “She’s up against a field of skiers with way more experience. But what was very interesting is that she had the ability to master the first jump. She was one of the first people to get that right.”

When he’s not coaching celebrities on the finer points of Olympic snow sports, Warren shares advice on ski skills in our online video tutorials. He’s also the head of the Warren Smith Ski Academy, running courses with internationally qualified instructors in Verbier in Switzerland, Cervinia in Italy and Niseko in Japan, as well as classes at indoor snow centres in the UK.

And if Sunday’s shenanigans look like your idea of fun, check out our guide to find out where you can try ski cross and other sports in The Jump for yourself.